This invention relates to methods for labeling intracytoplasmic molecules.
Current methods for prenatal diagnosis at cellular and genetic levels involve invasive procedures such as amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling (CVS). Because these methods involve small but significant chances of miscarriage, the current standard of care is to offer invasive prenatal diagnosis only to those women whose risk of a chromosomal or genetic abnormality is greater than or equal to the risk of a diagnostic procedure-related loss. Thus, prenatal diagnosis of chromosomal and genetic abnormalities is limited to a small portion of pregnant women. This is unfortunate, as the majority of abnormal newborns are born to women who were considered to have low risks (Geifman-Holtzman et al., Seminars in Perinatology 18(4):366-375, 1994; D'Alton et al., Curr. Probl. Obstet. Gynecol. Fertil. 17(2):44-78, 1994).